Member Avatar for JJ___

This problem is driving me round the bend. Google failed me and so I thought I'd revisit a (very) old haunt to find some real answers.

I'm trying to download Windows Live Messenger because all my hip friends on the interwebs say that they're using lots of pretty colours and sounds and it makes me jealous. =/

I use Firefox 3 for my general browsing, but have Internet Explorer as a backup in case anything isn't compatible. I've tried downloading the program in both, and while this page loads properly, when I click on 'Download', the next page (image 1) either only displays for barely a second before redirecting to an error page (image 2).
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

Believing this to be probably just an incompatibilty with Firefox I tried the same site on my barely-used Internet Explorer browser, only to be greeted with the same symptoms; a brief display of the aformentioned screen, followed by a general 'Could not display' message from IE:
[IMG][/IMG]

So, I'm stumped. Any light shed on the situation would be greatly appreciated and quite possibly rewarded with virtual cookies.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by davidmethew

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Short summary and likely causes: the behaviour you describe — the download page appearing briefly then being redirected and other apps failing to fetch updates — can be either a network/configuration block or malware that intercepts or breaks downloads. and were right to suspect the network, but the extra symptoms you mention (unable to update scanners, repeated crashes) strongly point toward malware actively interfering with downloads; Microsoft documents this exact scenario and recommends running scanners from removable media if needed. (Microsoft: you cannot download Safety Scanner because of malware)

Quick isolation checklist (do these first, in order): try another device on the same Wi‑Fi and then try the laptop on a different network (phone tethering) to see whether the problem follows the PC or the network; check browser connection/proxy settings in Firefox and Internet Explorer and disable any proxy or PAC file; verify local DNS cache and routing (run ipconfig /flushdns) and inspect the hosts file for unexpected entries (open as admin: notepad C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts). See Firefox connection settings and Windows networking docs for the exact places to look. (Firefox connection settings) (ipconfig /flushdns and network checks) (reset the hosts file)

If you still suspect infection, use a clean machine to download on-demand/removable tools, copy them to USB, then scan the infected laptop. Microsoft Safety Scanner can be copied and run that way; run multiple scanners (for example Malwarebytes) and, if the OS seems badly compromised, boot from a rescue environment (Kaspersky Rescue Disk) to scan offline. These steps avoid relying on the infected machine to fetch updates. (Microsoft Safety Scanner download/info) (Malwarebytes) (Kaspersky Rescue Disk)

If multiple devices on your home network show the same failure, check the router for altered DNS settings or firmware compromise: a factory reset and firmware update is often needed, and switching temporarily to known good DNS (for example 8.8.8.8) can help isolate the issue. If none of the above works, back up personal files, consider a full OS reinstall, or get hands‑on help from your ISP/tech support. (Router/DNS hijack guidance)

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Member Avatar for sillyboy

sounds like a network issue to me. how is your network configured? if this is on a large network (e.g. work, school) the download could be blocked.

Member Avatar for JJ___

Nope, this is a personal laptop, connected to a BT wireless home hub. I've also just recieved some very useful information from another very trusted site that I may have a particularly nasty virus - that could go some way towards explaining all this (I've also been unable to download virus-scan updates on practically everything, had my computer crash while seemingly doing nothing intensive several times in a short period, and many other symptoms).

But that's a job for another section of the forums.

Member Avatar for davidmethew

Its seems like a network problem something is blocking the download check your network config

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